POMONA, Calif. -- Persistent rain showers throughout the day Sunday
forced NHRA officials to postpone eliminations for the Kragen
O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona until
Monday.

It was the fourth consecutive day of rain delays for the season-opening
event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The continuation of
Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations will open Monday's racing,
starting at 11:30 a.m., and will be followed by the continuation of the
first round of Pro Stock.

On Sunday, one round of eliminations was completed in Top Fuel and Funny
Car. Among the first round winners in Top Fuel were defending world champ
Tony Schumacher, who posted the quickest time among all first round
winners in his U.S. Army dragster, and event top qualifier Antron Brown.

Brown, who pedaled his Matco Tools dragster to get the first-round win,
will meet Mike Strasburg in the second round.

"We caught a bit of a break in that first round because it dropped a hole
and I had to pedal the car," Brown said. "It's all good though. I have
all the confidence in the world in (crew chiefs) Brian (Corradi), Mark
(Oswald) and this Matco Tools crew and we'll be good to go in the second
round. If we're sticking around another day, we're in it to win it."

In Funny Car, top qualifier Robert Hight, Del Worsham and Ron Capps, who
produced the quickest run of the first round in his category in his NAPA
Dodge Charger, were among the first-round winners, while defending world
champ Cruz Pedregon lost to Jack Beckman. Only two pairs of cars were
able to run in Pro Stock.

Worsham, who drives the Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Solara, will face veteran
Gary Densham in the second round. A two-time Winternationals runner-up,
Worsham feels good about his chances on Monday.

"I'm extremely confident about tomorrow," Worsham said. "The
first round's gone, and that really is the nerves, first round at
the first race of the season. I feel a lot better about tomorrow, and
I'm looking forward to tomorrow. When you get in these cool
conditions like this, the track doesn't become slippery; it
actually gets more traction. When these tires bite like that, if they
don't slip a little bit, they tend to want to shake, and
that's what you were seeing with the tire shake out there and
everybody trying to pedal it and get it down there. We just don't
run in these conditions enough to get good at it, so when we get into a
situation like this when it happens, everybody's just doing the
best job they can do. If you can get it to where it's not shaking,
you could easily set a record out here right now."

Tickets will be available for Monday's racing for $26. Fans holding
tickets for any of the rain-delayed days (Thurs., Fri. or Sun.) may
redeem those tickets on Monday for entry.